Monday, November 03, 2014

ANNALS OF THE CULTURE WAR, PART 438,283.

Remember in the summer of 2009 when some guys put up Obama/Joker/Socialist posters, took pictures of them, spread them around the internet, and claimed it was about a national wave of resistance to the tyrant Obummer? And how every once in a while they, or someone like them, will put up some more posters, and claim it's "part of a larger campaign by street artists who are filling cities with political messages in opposition to the current administration," except you never see them anywhere but at rightwing websites?

Well, here we go again, except -- record scratch! -- this time it's a different black Democrat:


Blar har, in your face Maxine Waters!

Normally this sort of thing at this time of year is associated with the word "desperation," but Steven Hayward of Power Line has learned a new word, apparently, and is perhaps over-eager to put it to use.
So I learn from my students that the new descriptive term for showing someone up is “flexing”—I suppose a reference perhaps to what body builders do in a gym? Not sure, and I’ll make a point of asking for a more complete explanation and proper usage guide in class next week. 
But even before then, it appears someone is flexin’ ol’ Maxine Waters, the openly socialist Democratic Congresswoman from south central Los Angeles...
I think Professor Hayward hasn't quite got it . In the classic sense, you would have to have something to show off in order to properly flex. "I made an ugly poster of you while you cruised to victory" doesn't really qualify.

At American Thinker, Thomas Lifson explains what it's really all about:
The left long ago discovered the subversive power of street art. By expressing forbidden thoughts in a flamboyant manner, guerrilla posters plastered in walls, on utility poles, and in other public spaces can plant seeds that quietly sprout and grow where they can’t be seen: in people’s minds.
Well, we can sprout in people's minds, too, libtards! Our interns know Photoshop.

263 comments:

  1. FMguru10:39 AM

    Lord help us if they crack the secret code behind "shading".

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  2. susanoftexas10:45 AM

    From deep within our isolated elite gated communities, where we sip chardonnay and think about ways to subject minorities by giving them presents, we sneak into the inner city, where we also live despite the fact that we refuse to live in the inner city because we secretly despise minorities. There we bust out the street art, plastering public surfaces with flamboyant, transgressive thoughts that will eventually take over their minds, corrupting them away from God with our libertine belief in Anything Goes and Free Love.

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  3. John Wesley Hardin10:49 AM

    "By expressing forbidden thoughts..." yeah, about that. It is hardly "forbidden" to call a black democrat a "poverty pimp." In fact, it's almost fucking de rigueur if you work for American Stinker or similar cesspool.

    Just because it appropriates the form of street art doesn't mean it -is- street art, ya Philistinic tool. I think they're still mad about Shepard Fairey.

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  4. Mr. Wonderful10:49 AM

    "subversive power...forbidden thoughts...flamboyant manner...seeds that quietly sprout...in people's minds..."

    I guess at American Thinker, their idea of a documentary is Reefer Madness.

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  5. Laughing My Ass Off Bro this gets many "likes," or "upvotes" from me. The "luls" are "in effect!" All your flexin' are belong to someone else!

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  6. John Wesley Hardin10:50 AM

    You are aware of all Internet traditions.

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  7. all of them.

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  8. John Wesley Hardin10:52 AM

    Ronald Reagan set us up the bomb.

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  9. This is so weird--or rather its part of their ceaseless envy of what they think of as the hidden power of "the left" to speak to actual people, actually dispossessed, who walk the streets and live in this country. In reality the right has enormous cultural power and avenues to communicate with its voters: i.e. Fox News and Limbaugh. But that isn't enough for them because they know that younger voters and the regular media aren't paying any attention to Limbaugh and Fox at this point. Younger voters because they watch less TV and don't listen to talk radio all that much. And the main stream press because they prefer to pretend that Fox and Limbaugh are so déclassé and unimportant that they don't deserve coverage.


    Street art is meant to influence the young person who doesn't have a car, lives in urban areas, and who doesn't watch TV (or doesn't trust TV). Its meant to be a visceral call to arms, bypassing the rational circuits of the brain and appealing to the faddish, cliquish, emotional and tribalist part of the brain. And its cheap--compared to putting on an Fox news show! So why not try to claim it? But the problem for them is that fake fads are not as effective as real fads--a poster with no word of mouth an don street cred or street discussion is just another piece of wall noise. Easily screened out or ignored.

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  10. John Wesley Hardin11:08 AM

    You've put the finger on the philosophical problem. The true beliefs are Anything Galt and Free Market.

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  11. Brian Schlosser11:08 AM

    How did you know what I did Saturday?

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  12. susanoftexas11:09 AM

    It's what we all do. We learned it in our Marxism Brainwashing 101 class the first day of college.

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  13. Well, we can sprout in people's minds, too, libtards!So can mucormycosis.

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  14. Its meant to be a visceral call to arms, bypassing the rational circuits
    of the brain and appealing to the faddish, cliquish, emotional and
    tribalist part of the brain.Which they already have down pat. The problem is that Fox News doesn't actually translate well to street art.

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  15. John Wesley Hardin11:13 AM

    Yeah on Friday, tens of millions of us encouraged strangers to come to our door where we gleefully redistributed billions of dollars in candy. We just gave it away for free. All as Alinsky intended.

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  16. JennOfArk11:15 AM

    You know what ELSE sprouts in people's minds? Toxoplasmosis, histoplasmosis, and probably some other plasmoses yet to be discovered, which are transmitted via Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.

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  17. susanoftexas11:15 AM

    AKA: Gimme.

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  18. susanoftexas11:16 AM

    You have to get them when they're young.

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  19. Mr. Wonderful11:18 AM

    I don't think street art (or maybe any art) convinces anybody of anything. It expresses feelings and ideas people already have--the audience as well as the artist. The only reason these yo-yo's think it possesses the power to cloud men's minds is, to them, everything is political and everything political involves propaganda.

    We've said here, a thousand times, that they don't understand art, its creation or its function. And their inability to be actually funny is known to one and all. This hissy fit about street art is just another manifestation of that (hobbled, dysfunctional) mindset.

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  20. What, you couldn't have waited a few hours, let the comment thread get into the triple digits first? Typical socialist expropriator.

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  21. By expressing forbidden thoughts in a flamboyant manner, guerrilla posters plastered in walls, on utility poles, and in other public spaces can plant seeds that quietly sprout and grow where they can’t be seen: in people’s minds.

    SCENE 1: EXT. NIGHT

    A back alley in Los Angeles. A young black man - wearing a New Black Panthers beret and clearly potted up on weed - opens his backback. It is filled with the accessories of his nightly mischief: a slap hammer, numerous cans of spray paint, a refreshing beverage to flash menacingly at white women. He pulls out one of the cans of spray paint.

    YOUTH: Gonna be a good night. We'll really show whitey this time.

    As he shakes up the can, his eyes fall on a "Maxine Waters, Poverty Pimp" poster. There is a hint of recognition in his eyes, as though he had seen it in passing but never considered it.

    YOUTH: Fuckin' fascist pigs. Oughta bust a cap in..in...

    His entire body becomes numb as he reaches for the word. The paint can slips from his hand.

    YOUTH: In...nggh...(speaking in monotone) Maxine Waters is a poverty pimp...Maxine Waters...

    He grabs the paint can from the ground and hastily paints "Who is John Galt" on the wall. He then stumbles down the alley, arms extended before him, muttering to himself.

    YOUTH: Must get job...stop depending on government...must get married...

    (From the screenplay for Night of the Living Angelos, premiering next fall in some guy's basement)

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  22. We've said here, a thousand times, that they don't understand art, its creation or its function.Yeah, if all it's doing is allowing you to snicker because you called someone a vile name, it's not street art, it's grafitti. So it's obviously all the same to them.

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  23. I would like to shower this comment with flowers bought using luxurious EBT benefits.

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  24. I think these guys are hoping for the ol' brand recognition effect - plaster their symbols all over the place, and people will internalize them without consciously noticing it. Hey, it works in retail - there's a reason why people who claim to be "immune to advertising" still buy the products that advertise the most. But consumer products and politics use this tactic in wholly different ways. Politics requires more subtlety - the whisper campaign, the constant near-subliminal repetition. Overt displays like street art may be useful in reinforcing beliefs that the target population would be inclined to have anyway, but I can't see it being as effective to a hostile audience. No one's going to say "Well, I was going to vote Democratic, but I've heard that Maxine Waters is a poverty pimp."

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  25. John Wesley Hardin11:26 AM

    Babe, you know I love your work, but I think the suits are going to want to see more more active embracing of conservative principles; maybe he could suddenly be outraged by Chappaquiddick, you know? And the whole "hands extended" thing. That makes me think "handout!" Look, we both know you're a genius babe, but if I think that, they're gonna think that. So maybe he could, just freewheeling here, but maybe he could grab his own bootstraps and give 'em a good tug first? I tell you, just a little re-write could turn this into THE media event of the next CPAC.

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  26. Not sure, and I’ll make a point of asking for a more complete explanation and proper usage guide next week, but it appears ol' Steven Hayward just flexed himself.

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  27. By expressing forbidden thoughts in a flamboyant manner, guerrilla
    posters plastered in isic] walls, on utility poles, and in other public spaces
    [missing text?] can plant seeds that quietly sprout and grow where they can’t be seen:
    in people’s minds.

    Damn those rotten liberals for making people think!

    But at least he admits that wingnuts view the act of thinking as a suspicious, clandestine behavior. That's why they make a point of blurting out whatever they think at that particular moment.

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  28. RogerAiles11:30 AM

    He's been served!

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  29. RogerAiles11:30 AM

    Guess they're waiting for a "Spare the Air" day to burn crosses.

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  30. montag211:37 AM

    Or, "Birth of a Nation."

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  31. BigHank5311:38 AM

    Oh, and when you go to rewrite, do you think you could punch up the ending a little bit? I mean, even five years ago, the audience would have been happy with the job and marriage, but they're in the mood for something more...visceral these days. Do you think you could have the protagonist shoot a couple of Hispanics and then try to swim back to Africa? We don't need to show him drowning, of course, just roll the end credits as he gets further out into the Pacific....

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  32. Yes, 99% of the street art I see has no political message. A lot of it is particular artists leaving his/her mark on a building.

    But I think the neo-con thought process runs something like this:

    (Street) Art = (Black) Liberals = Secret Liberal Messages to Liberals.

    We're talking about the same people who hate the sound of people speaking a language other than English because they're worried the people might be talking about them.

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  33. montag211:41 AM

    Try to imagine bad Roger Aile's face everywhere... that alone would cause cities to burn.

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  34. FMguru11:41 AM

    I think it serves the same purpose as black Republicans who deliver speeches about the liberal plantation and dependency culture - it's not to convince African-Americans that they should support and vote for the GOP, it's to provide white Republicans with concrete evidence that they are Not Racist and really it's the Democrats who are the real racists.

    This terrible cargo-cult street art serves a similar role - to convince older white Republicans that they are in the trenches, in touch with the youth of today, fightin' the culture war toe-to-toe in the streets. See also: every conservative outreach media effort to energize and connect with today's youth. The old people who fund the right are aware they have a image problem with the under-30s and are always looking to throw money at anyone who seems to offer even the outline of a solution, and so you have lots of young conservatives getting funded for hopeless go-nowhere efforts to infiltrate youth culture (viral videos! street teams! flash mobs!) that are mostly about people lining their pockets.

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  35. susanoftexas11:42 AM

    the evil unfairness of liberals
    You left out "who are the real racists."

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  36. FMguru11:43 AM

    Also, I think they're still smarting from those iconic 2008 "Hope"

    and "Change" Obama campaign posters.

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  37. Helmut Monotreme11:44 AM

    Well isn't that precious. They mashed up an Obama 'Hope' style poster, an unflattering Wall Street Journal style portrait engraving, and a right wing slur. Clearly they hope to mobilize the resentment of all of her constituents who resent the Maxine's focus on her ...constituents? Street art can be powerful when it gives voice to those who are denied a voice. This is a clumsy smear. This is as authentic as a 3 dollar bill. The person who wrote this might as well have gone with their first choice for a caption; that word they always complain about not being able to use. But using the next best slur doesn't make this any less a ham-fisted message of resentment. This is quite an outreach effort to bring the message of "fuck off, losers" to those people that can't afford to watch fox news.

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  38. L Bob Rife11:51 AM

    This just screams 'overachieving intern':


    - Post the graphic on the side of the utility box that faces away from the street so you can get a good shot of a recognizable (or at least google-able) Compton landmark and not actually bring the message to the people.


    - Label the person in the poster for the benefit of the flyover brethren.


    $10 says it's mounted on foamcore and they threw it back in the trunk of the car before retreating back behind the Orange Curtain.

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  39. Yes to Mr. Wonderful's point and Shakezula's. I think they think that wall art/graffitti/posters are the Wall Posters of Communist China--the way the liberals communicate with their illiterate troops. But I don't think that this stuff works for their own, actual, voters who are locked in to Fox News already. And you can't expand the grip of the disinformation they want to spread to a new group because they have no access to what that group wants or thinks already. They think that Banksy accoplished something with his stupid Andre the giant posters I suppose and that Obama's success in the first election was entirely due to the adoption of the Banksy poster for Obama?

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  40. Should have read down and seen that FMguru got there first with this point, and faster.

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  41. At least they don't do the "How'dya like your Hopey Changey now?" routine anymore.

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  42. montag211:52 AM

    "... flexed himself."

    Sounds limply auto-erotic.

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  43. Limbaughplasmosis.

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  44. You don't think they photoshopped it to avoid actually going out on the street?

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  45. This all makes me think of:
    http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091104152446/marvel_dc/images/6/67/Flex_Mentallo_001.jpg

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  46. There are SKEEERY LIEBRULS out there!

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  47. L Bob Rife11:58 AM

    Sure they do. It's a fucking meme that won't die.

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  48. Just going by the picture above, it looks like paid advertising, paid political advertising, that you'd see at a bus shelter. I hope whoever did it skimmed some money for themselves, so at least then it would be an honest swindle and not just utter cluelessness about what constitutes street art.

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  49. L Bob Rife12:00 PM

    The lighting sure is suspicious, but at least the unadulterated image doesn't come up in a stock image search...

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  50. Why'd they do this in front of Mr. Ploppy's Donuts?

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  51. Shows how up on Wingnut Hipness I am.

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  52. "Not much, guys. Thanks for being deranged obstructionists."

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  53. Derelict12:05 PM

    You gotta love the logic here. Left-wing liberal ideas can be "planted" in a subversive manner to later "sprout" in people's minds--and that's why conservative ideas are so poorly received.

    I guess telling minorities over and over and over again "Hey! Fuck you [epithet]! has nothing to do with why conservatives just can't get any traction. It's gotta be about the posters and subliminal messaging.

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  54. I'm calling the Governor. We need to get all of Rush's listeners quarantined immediately.

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  55. Derelict12:08 PM

    I think the forbidden thought here is "nigger" and they know they can't put up posters showing her picture with that word.

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  56. Or that idea that global warming is an idea cooked up by greedy scientists chasing grant money.
    ~

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  57. Derelict12:13 PM

    Please collect your internets at the door as you've won them for today.

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  58. Derelict12:15 PM

    Clearly they hope to mobilize the resentment of all of her constituents who resent the Maxine's focus on her ...constituents?

    No. They hope to mobilize her largely Black constituency by putting up a poster of her with a thinly veiled racial reference that insults her and all of her constituents. I'm sure this will get the results they expect.

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  59. M. Krebs12:17 PM

    This really needs to happen. Not the cities burning part, but Ailes' ugly mug on thousands of posters with PROPAGANDA emblazoned on it.

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  60. "That Fairey is propaganda to mislead young sheep! Why's he so much better at it than we are? It's not fair...

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  61. Unfortunately, it's not mine; I acquired it from a commenter on Crooks & Liars.

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  62. I think Disqus embeds automatically when you put up the link.

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  63. BigHank5312:21 PM

    Fucking liberals ruin everything.

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  64. The Lure of Easy Living. By Secular Present Giving Day, we'll have the whole next generation hooked.

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  65. Mr. Wonderful12:24 PM

    Are you kidding? And Cezanne. "I'm sorry, but has anyone actually seen an apple that looks like that?"

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  66. Bizarro Mike12:24 PM

    Or: DON'T VOTE

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  67. Well, maybe not "flash mobs" so much, after all the effort FNC put into tarring that term. Fox News has done some weird shit over the years, but referring to every robbery involving more than one person as a "flash mob" has to make the Top 50 at least.

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  68. "The
    most powerful weapon keeping [White Southerners] voting [Republican] is community
    pressure. It is regarded as traitorous to desert the party, and those
    who openly question the dogma are subject to sanctions, with the dreaded
    epithet ["Libtard Moocher"] liberally (pardon the pun) employed."


    There, fixed it, Thomas. Glad I could help. You're welcome.

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  69. BadExampleMan12:29 PM

    Oreillebola.

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  70. I've been reading a bit about the penitentiary system, and how it started to grow in the 70's starting with Nixon and his "tough on crime" rhetoric and policies. You know, it takes a lot of balls to spend four decades scapegoating black people, then turn around and say "But we're cool now, right guys?"

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  71. susanoftexas12:31 PM

    Conservatives are squeamish. Just put Fox News on the posters to associate the news channel with the Creosote mug of its owner.

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  72. The ironic thing is that if what the yo-yos feared was actually true, we'd be living in a progressive utopia instead of heading towards a freaking shipwreck tomorrow.

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  73. Helmut Monotreme12:38 PM

    *cough* Forty decades *cough*.

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  74. BigHank5312:39 PM

    Whipping up fear in order to swindle more money? Why did some Republican activists think that's what climate researchers were up to?

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  75. susanoftexas12:39 PM

    First we give out formula to babies, when their mothers are forced to work. Then we hook 'em with the hard stuff--all day suckers, chocolate, English toffee, buttery nougat. Before you know it they're jonesing for a free school lunch. By the time they are adults they expect free cheese and running water. Then they are our for life.

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  76. Too bad this is too late for a bumper sticker campaign.

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  77. BigHank5312:42 PM

    Yeah, but that "joke" is something they can tell in public.

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  78. susanoftexas12:42 PM

    When in doubt (and aren't they always), go with what you know.

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  79. Derelict12:44 PM

    Obligatory Firesign Theater:

    Aliens! Register now!
    Every year at this time, the United States government requires all ALIENS! to register. Forms are available at your local Post Office. Those without forms are required to appear at the bureau's Astral offices."

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  80. The Andre the Giant stuff was Shepard Fairey, Banksy is way better...

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  81. Derelict12:48 PM

    By the time they are adults they expect . . . running water.

    We're working on this: More and more cash-strapped municipalities are selling their water systems as they "privatize" the service. I'm sure every American on a municipal water system is looking forward to showering every morning with Dasani water--and paying 15 cents per ounce for it.

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  82. Brian Schlosser12:49 PM

    I would like to do something thematically relevant to that Internet mail answer!

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  83. susanoftexas12:53 PM

    thanks.

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  84. Jay B.12:53 PM

    Did they put a wig on Don Knotts? You know, it should look something like the person you are FLEXIN'.

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  85. I think aliens is where they got their humor from.

    "We've heard you humans have hu-mor. We think it goes like this."

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  86. Shows what I know about pop culture.

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  87. drspittle1:36 PM

    As scene fades, YOUTH is seen driving a Dodge minivan and grooving to a Taylor Swift CD as he drives his kids to a soccer game...

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  88. redoubtagain1:56 PM

    Their idea of effective graffiti.

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  89. The left long ago discovered the subversive power of street art. By expressing forbidden thoughts in a flamboyant manner, guerrilla posters plastered in walls, on utility poles, and in other public spaces can plant seeds that quietly sprout and grow where they can’t be seen: in people’s minds.

    The shadow can only mock, never create genuine things on its own.

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  90. I'm surprised that they haven't thought of the street art angle before.

    It fits right into the way Rightwingers often like to think of themselves: as embattled rebels who fight for what's right and good, faced with overwhelming odds, unable to be heard over the massive liberal media machine.

    When they aren't busy thinking of themselves as the silent (or silenced) majority, they like to feel like a persecuted minority. This "street art" thing is perfect for that.

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  91. redoubtagain2:18 PM

    I'm surprised that they haven't thought of the street art angle before.
    So am I, if by "street" you mean "gated, restricted community".

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  92. vista2:28 PM

    I googled the "poster" and saw it against a utility box and it looks as if there is a shadow of someone taking a pic of it although I can't tell how securely the poster is attached to the box.

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  93. Gromet2:31 PM

    I think the Fairey posters did help in 2008, actually -- but it was startling, because I'd never imagined art could work like that. However, it worked because of a few unique things: 1) As Mr Wonderful says, it expressed an idea people already had, in this case about what the candidate was all about; 2) The idea was hopeful; 3) It highlighted a stark contrast with the opposition represented by Cheney, McCain, etc.; 4) Shepherd Fairey has a cool personal story/career that backs up the art, and 5) It was legit good art -- I have a CHANGE print framed over my couch and I still enjoy seeing it every day.


    I think because of all of this, the posters were effective -- they helped to keep the election front and center for a lot of young voters. They helped energy and turnout, a little (I believe).


    Then you see this Poverty Pimp poster and the only seed it plants is "Wow, what angry moron drove here from Orange County to put that up by the photogenic donut shop in the middle of the night?"


    I mean look at this and then give Reagan credit for at least one big idea: You catch a lot more votes with Morning in America than you do with You Goddamn Slaves. Flex on that, Power Lines.

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  94. glennisw2:32 PM

    We have time to do this because we're on welfare, too!

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  95. glennisw2:33 PM

    And free birth control! Obamaphones!

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  96. glennisw2:35 PM

    At the shooting range.

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  97. Check the kerning on the fonts.

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  98. L Bob Rife2:39 PM

    Well, the background of that poster is "niggas better have my money", but I guess that's a quote so there's plausible deniability.

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  99. L Bob Rife2:41 PM

    Evidently there was a second poster (in what looks like a 'safer' neighborhood) and that one is paper and pasted to the utility box.

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  100. Gromet2:41 PM

    Yes. And the more I think about this Pimp poster, the more I hate it. It's not just stupid; it's kind of damaging. It doesn't "plant the seed" of anything positive or useful. It just says "what a mess." Or, if you're very sympathetic to it, it says, "Maxine Waters is keeping us in poverty." Well, great, let's say I'm a voter in her district and I see this and think, "Wow, that poster nails it." Now what? I go out and vote for... who? And why? I organize what? I participate how? Even if it works in a best-case-scenario way, this poster isn't going to make a voter feel anything but contempt and despair. It feels more like suppression than inspiration. It is as far as you can get from Shepherd Fairey's Hope and Change art and still be a poster.

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  101. glennisw2:42 PM

    It's not in Compton, it's more like in Inglewood, and the west side of Inglewood at that. It's Randy's Donuts near the CarMax lot, just west of the 405. It's nowhere near "South Central Los Angeles."

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  102. Gromet2:44 PM

    Upvote for "cargo-cult street art." Perfect.

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  103. Gromet2:48 PM

    I actually checked on google maps to see if this was even in her district, and it is by a few blocks. But yeah, probably a 20-minute drive from "South Central" (which doesn't exist anymore, btw, it was renamed "Central" a few years ago).

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  104. glennisw2:51 PM

    It's not in "South Central" LA at all. It's in the wee sliver of Inglewood that's west of the 405. Yes, it's in Waters' district, but it's basically just a taxi ride from LAX. It's not right in front of Randy's Donuts really,it's across Manchester, in front of a Shell Station. It's pretty much in a location no one on foot would see it, and not even where drivers would see it, unless they were fueling up at the Shell.


    It's located to have a photo taken of it, not for any person to see it in situ.

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  105. Gromet2:52 PM

    "Make us to your Leader."

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  106. Derelict2:53 PM

    Doing something for show!?!? Like the Office of Faith-Based Solutions?

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  107. ColBatGuano2:55 PM

    I love my inner city gated community. We have the best chardonnay.

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  108. glennisw2:56 PM

    It's more like a 40 minute drive from South Central. It's Manchester and La Cienega - it's WEST of the 405. It's a stone's throw from LAX. They could've ridden a parking shuttle to get there, slapped it up then gone right back to catch a flight out.

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  109. Well, from that perspective I think its very effective. It says to the viewer--the actual person on the street--"despair!" "Give up!" We, the people who put this poster here, have the right to come into your community and demagogue and defame your political representatives and there isn't anything you can do about it.

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  110. Yes: cargo cult street art deserves a call out and wider use.

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  111. glennisw2:59 PM

    I tried doiing that but I decided I didn't want to visit any of the places that showed up. Ew.

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  112. Gromet3:06 PM

    Which is of course their right. But why do I suspect if an African-American activist drove to Fritters, Alabama, to paste up terrible drawings of their creationist congressman, saying STUPIDITY PIMP -- or down to the OC to past up DANGEROUSLY UNSUSTAINABLE INEQUALITY PIMP -- the locals might well find a way to do something about it.

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  113. Derelict3:08 PM

    "What can men do against such reckless hate?"

    King Soros in Chelsea's Deep awaiting the attack of the D'orcs.

    ReplyDelete
  114. If it causes a potential voter to despair and decide not to vote, then that's a plus for the Republicans. The less people vote, the better they tend to do in elections.


    But I don't think it's going to have that effect on people. I think it's just going to anger whoever sees it. Beyond making people grit their teeth, I don't think it's going to influence anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  115. I would like to simply walk into Mordor with this comment.

    ReplyDelete
  116. Matt Jones3:14 PM

    The conservatives would love to put up more street art, but the Fraktur font is on backorder... ;)

    ReplyDelete
  117. L Bob Rife3:16 PM

    In that poster the letters T.O.S. are on Walter's collar in Fraktur. I don't have the energy to track down what it means.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Good street art is witty and creative. I doubt the Right is ever going to get the hang of it.


    Good editorial cartooning also requires creativity and wit, and just look at what conservatives have in that field. They have stuff like Mallard Fillmore.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Helmut Monotreme3:33 PM

    They can always use Cocksure until Fraktur ships

    ReplyDelete
  120. Brother Yam3:33 PM

    Yo, Check it! M Watt in da HIZZOUSE!


    Since 1991, Bitchez...


    And by bitchez, I mean Republicans. But you already knew that.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Frank SiDalle3:42 PM

    So Pere, it freaking snowed in Columbia in Ovtober, and you're going to tell me its because of global warming, aren't you?

    ReplyDelete
  122. tigrismus3:51 PM

    Wouldn't she be more a "misery madam?" And how exactly would poverty procurement work? She finds a poverty for you and takes a cut?

    ReplyDelete
  123. Giant Monster Gamera3:54 PM

    You gotta love the logic here. Left-wing liberal ideas can be "planted" in a subversive manner to later "sprout" in people's minds--and that's why conservative ideas are so poorly received.

    Which is why their current strategy is to spread as much fertilizer as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  124. bekabot3:57 PM

    Yeah, well, the shadow can't ever really mock very well, and that's what gets to me.

    ReplyDelete
  125. But Oh my god would I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  126. I think it makes white voters despair. I'm sure it makes black voters even angrier and more likely to vote but of course the republicans are working on suppressing that vote more directly.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Gromet4:05 PM

    As with all things LA, it depends on traffic. Taking Century east would be tedious at any time, but if it's not rush hour, you can hop on the 405 right there, head up to the 10, and exit Crenshaw... oh hell, now that I'm on the road, that probably IS 40 minutes. This is why I'm late to everything.

    ReplyDelete
  128. Glock H. Palin, Esq.4:08 PM

    By Secular Present Giving Day, we'll have the whole next generation hooked.


    It's no coincidence that Santa wears red.

    ReplyDelete
  129. BG, still irked4:09 PM

    Halloween = SOCIALISM!!!!


    I mean, shouldn't those kids have to EARN all that candy?


    And what about Christmas --- just GIVING them presents? Hell, that's going to make think they're ENTITLED to get free stuff for the rest of their lives!


    And birthdays --- you want something for nothing just because you were BORN?

    ReplyDelete
  130. ColBatGuano4:10 PM

    I wonder what would happen if some of the residents of Rep. Waters were to come across the "artists" putting this up on the local bus stop? That might be fun.

    ReplyDelete
  131. Glock H. Palin, Esq.4:14 PM

    You gotta love the logic here. Left-wing liberal ideas can be "planted"
    in a subversive manner to later "sprout" in people's minds--and that's
    why conservative ideas are so poorly received.


    Conservatives would never stoop so low as to attempt to address voters minds. They're not progressives, for god's sake.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Oh, hey, it's the Peanut Gallery come to call. Sorry, I've put away the crayons and the plastic blocks, but I think there's a chunk of plutonium around here you can gnaw on if you'd like.

    ReplyDelete
  133. Glock H. Palin, Esq.4:19 PM

    They're still mad about about Thag son of Thrug's "Small Stone On Top Of Large Stone w/ Deer Skull #3".

    ReplyDelete
  134. Brother Yam4:30 PM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aChRo7PrPQw

    ReplyDelete
  135. Smurch4:35 PM

    Well you have to admit, it was pretty derivative....

    ReplyDelete
  136. Brother Yam4:36 PM

    "Roger Ailes has a Posse"

    ReplyDelete
  137. J Neo Marvin4:47 PM

    And of course, they're not likely to have by their side a girlfriend so they can't look through the paintings.

    ReplyDelete
  138. You can't see her, she's in Canada right now.

    ReplyDelete
  139. Halloween_Jack4:56 PM

    I am just seven hours old


    (and can't dance)

    ReplyDelete
  140. Bitter Scribe4:59 PM

    Yes, calling a black woman a "pimp" is guaranteed to influence people who don't already agree with you.

    ReplyDelete
  141. Gabriel Ratchet5:03 PM

    Or Bush's Potemkin Ranch.

    ReplyDelete
  142. J Neo Marvin5:04 PM

    She probably got tired of being told to put down her cigarette and act like a true girl.

    ReplyDelete
  143. Mr. Wonderful5:15 PM

    "...required to appear, HOWEVER BRIEFLY..." etc.

    ReplyDelete
  144. Gabriel Ratchet5:26 PM

    I'll just leave this here:

    ReplyDelete
  145. Gabriel Ratchet5:32 PM

    I'll just leave this here, then:

    ReplyDelete
  146. Smarter than Your Average Bear5:40 PM

    That's how they grow them in nuklear country

    ReplyDelete
  147. Smarter than Your Average Bear5:40 PM

    I bet Sarah Palin could

    ReplyDelete
  148. "Those wihout forms are required to appear, however briefly, at the bureau's Astral Offices on Nooker Street!

    ALIENS! Register now!"

    (and into the Free Mexican Air Force spot)

    ReplyDelete
  149. Gromet5:57 PM

    Gosh, I'm looking at the lower left corner of the poster -- it is a perfect corner but it seems to project past the edge of the panel it's on. I'm starting to think this really is a photoshop. Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  150. gocart mozart5:57 PM

    The pimps are paid in obamaphone minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  151. SHUT UP SHE'S PERFECT

    I have a picture of her here, and YES, it's from a magazine, but this is from when she was a swimsuit model.

    ReplyDelete
  152. Obviously an inside job.

    ReplyDelete
  153. gocart mozart6:01 PM

    Worst salad dressing ever!

    ReplyDelete
  154. gocart mozart6:08 PM

    That's more of a venereal disease.

    ReplyDelete
  155. MUCOR RULES ALL THE WORLDS

    ReplyDelete
  156. Hemidemisemiquaver6:52 PM

    "The left long ago discovered the subversive power of street art. By expressing forbidden thoughts in a flamboyant manner, . . . ."

    Man, that is some real envy right there.

    ReplyDelete
  157. This makes me want to sing "Everything Is Awesome!"

    ReplyDelete
  158. So--you really don't know what the phrase "global warming" stands for, do you? You think the planet has something like a freezer or toaster setting?

    ReplyDelete
  159. Megalon7:49 PM

    Did you know that Santa is an anagram for SATAN!?

    ReplyDelete
  160. Another Kiwi8:04 PM

    It's easy to see now what with the independent Republic of Former Climate Scientists or Bermuda as it had been known, but back then it was a few brave, lonely, right wing voices in the wilderness.

    ReplyDelete
  161. Another Kiwi8:05 PM

    Upvoted for the Orange Curtain, a new thing for me.

    ReplyDelete
  162. Derelict8:06 PM

    It's been 30 years since last I heard this. Glad to know I got MOST of it--and happy to be reminded of the rest of it!

    ReplyDelete
  163. M. Krebs8:07 PM

    As yes, Alinski High. Commie Martyrs High used to kick their ass in football.

    ReplyDelete
  164. Derelict8:08 PM

    Christmas gets a pass because only GOOD boys and girls get presents. In conservative land, bad girls get pregnant and live on the streets, and bad boys get recruited to the RNC.

    ReplyDelete
  165. Derelict8:12 PM

    That wilderness in Idaho is soon to be seafront property.

    ReplyDelete
  166. M. Krebs8:13 PM

    Actually they could. So I guess we've discovered a glint of humanity base intelligence in them.

    ReplyDelete
  167. glennisw8:13 PM

    Cut over on Slauson.

    ReplyDelete
  168. M. Krebs8:15 PM

    Or Videodrome.

    ReplyDelete
  169. M. Krebs8:16 PM

    Indeed he does.

    ReplyDelete
  170. Derelict8:17 PM

    Actually, I think it snowed because AlGore is fat. And so is Michael Moore.

    So there you have it: Science at its finest!

    ReplyDelete
  171. Derelict8:19 PM

    I don't want my Slauson cutoff!

    ReplyDelete
  172. Oh?

    You managed to fix "Ovtober", but you couldn't answer me? Coward.

    ReplyDelete
  173. M. Krebs8:20 PM

    And yet nobody's happy.

    http://youtu.be/KpUNA2nutbk

    ReplyDelete
  174. M. Krebs8:21 PM

    You had better be Gabriel Ratchet.

    ReplyDelete
  175. Derelict8:22 PM

    She gives you money to keep you poor. Whereas a Republican would take your money away to make you rich.

    ReplyDelete
  176. M. Krebs8:24 PM

    Where did you acquire this stalker?

    ReplyDelete
  177. Another Kiwi8:33 PM

    Flamboyant manner means teh Gheys, also and too.

    ReplyDelete
  178. M. Krebs8:33 PM

    Flex Mentallo? I guess he's super-smart too!

    ReplyDelete
  179. M. Krebs8:38 PM

    Just don't take the Goyim Cutoff.

    ReplyDelete
  180. M. Krebs8:41 PM

    Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?

    ReplyDelete
  181. M. Krebs8:42 PM

    C+ Caesar.

    ReplyDelete
  182. M. Krebs8:44 PM

    I recommend Brush Script.

    ReplyDelete
  183. He seems to have followed over from Crooks & Liars.

    ReplyDelete
  184. susanoftexas9:10 PM

    Texas has refineries near the ocean. That's going to be a problem one day.

    ReplyDelete
  185. AGoodQuestion10:06 PM

    Really? In this dawning of the age of right wing Aquarius, that's all they've got? "Poverty pimp"? That blanket insult has been around for a good four decades, and it's ugly racial "subtext" has been obvious for... the exact same amount of time, really.

    ReplyDelete
  186. AGoodQuestion10:19 PM

    Freedom isn't free. It's billable.

    ReplyDelete
  187. The entire message reads
    LIVE
    WORK
    PLAY,
    then shows an advert for doing all three in the bldg. it's on.
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hlLWl_87wLA/VCm9TxFqNhI/AAAAAAAAe_I/DN0Vrv8lv7E/s3200/WORK%2B021.JPG

    Just a matter of time.

    ReplyDelete
  188. Another Kiwi10:40 PM

    Don't put it in the bacon slicer, then!

    ReplyDelete
  189. AGoodQuestion10:43 PM

    Part of it is the difference between talking to and talking at. Even political street art,which does have an element of what you could call propaganda, requires give-and-take. You're speaking to people where they live, in terms that will resonate with them. Right-authoritarians can't get on that wavelength because they're convinced everyone should just drop their own perspectives and agree with them, and that if they don't they're just being difficult.

    ReplyDelete
  190. Jmaharry10:46 PM

    An evening of wine, then covert urban propagandizing and minority mind warping, then back throught the gates before dawn. We call it the VNA: Vintage Nocturnal Alinsky.

    ReplyDelete
  191. AGoodQuestion10:53 PM

    It feels more like suppression than inspiration.
    That's probably the intent, as Waters' district isn't one where they have the heft to actually pass vote-restricting laws.

    ReplyDelete